Vijay

So some of you may have been following my threads about wanting to do multiple mods and looking for one shop to do them all. As I posted my project outline on the forums, I got a response from Josh at Excelerate Performance in Branford, CT. After a few conversations, and a generally positive impression, I went down to their shop to check it out before leaving them with my new S6 to rip apart. It is a very nice set-up. Exactly what you might expect from a top notch speed shop. Josh informed me that they had recently moved to this location to expand their operations, and take things to a higher level overall.

After seeing the results of the work on my car, I can tell you that these guys are the real deal. The installation for everything, exceeded my expectations. Their attention to detail is spectacular. They do not cut corners, and you can tell this is a high grade professional job.

Now.....on to the project.....

1. Hella Micro DE HID projector beam driving lamps. These are not some cheap "fog lights". They are full HID with separate ballast units. The lights are meant to hook into your existing light harness, but I wanted independent control. They created a distribution block to serve as a power hub then ran the lights from there. The system was not fused so they were put in line by the team at Excelerate.

I mounted them in the space that would otherwise house the ACC radar "eyes", as I did not order this option on the car. The space was perfect. I ordered a set of OEM black optic grill inserts for a car with ACC to serve as the fascia for mounting the lights.




Custom mounts had to be fabricated to properly install the projectors




The finished product...looking like it came straight from the factory !!!!








2. Blinder HP-905 Laser Jammer I was really impressed at how small these transponder units are. Makes for a very clean install. Again, the difference is in the meticulousness of the install. It was a lot of cable to run through the firewall with the ECU harness, so, they went in the front fender well, and used a grommet on the inside of the the front fender to wire into the cabin. I mounted all four pods in front for maximum protection.



The CPU for the jammer is underneath the front dash area. If you look to the left of the pic, you can also see the dongle for the APR ECU app hooked into the OBD port.



The jammer control switch, the jammer alert lamp, and the switch for the Hella lights are housed in a panel that was installed into the center console cubby. The panel is covered in alcantara to match the roof liner.




3. APR ECU flash Well, nothing to report here that hasn't likely already been said. This is a transformational upgrade. Not just the absolute amount of power, which is prodigious, but moreso, it is the character of the overall power delivery. This throttle is just more responsive, less quirky overall, and smoother. FWIW, on my 80 mile drive back home, my overall mpg was also better by about 2 mpg at an average of 75-90mph. I did get the OBD port dongle which allows me to use my iphone for ECU program control.


4. Stasis rear sway bar After hearing some good reports on this, I decided to give it a try as it was not a big ticket item. This is a must do mod. It is inexpensive and really improves the overall composure of the car in corners without affecting the ride comfort at all. The car just feels tighter. This is how it should have come from the factory. Really happy with this and really surprised what a difference it made.




5. VMR 708 wheels & Michelin Pilot Supersport tires I really can't comment on the drive yet, since I just mounted them, but the look and fitment of everything is just perfect IMO. Wheels are 20x9 ET 35 in gunmetal. Tires are 265/35/20.







Both beasts in their cave...ready for springtime!!!




I think I need a cheaper hobby!!!

gatorguy7

Wow nice garage! And nice job all around on the mods.

mikec7s6

like the grill and fogs, looks good. do you plan on lowering? if you don't mind me asking, how do you justify spending so much $ on tires for vmr's? im not hating or bashing, but the pss's cost more than the wheels.

Vijay

I do not plan on lowering. I live in New England and the S6 is my daily driver. Plus, to me, the ride height in dynamic mode is perfect.

The decision about a "budget" wheel like the VMRs is one that I went back and forth with a lot. Again, it comes down to the fact that this is a daily driver, and as such, in the Northeast, the wheels will take a beating. What really sealed the deal was the classic Audi design and that the fitment was perfect. To be quite honest, I really like how it looks a lot. Over the years I have come to find that, sometimes, inexpensive wheels can look and work just fine. You just have to get over it mentally. No, they don't look like the jewels that are HRE, but they are literally 1/7th the cost. The tires on the other hand will dramatically affect the drive of the car and the PSS are no more expensive than other comparable tires. For me, cost isn't an issue, but VALUE always is.

SierraBravo

Those are some excellent mods. I like what you have done with your S6.

I keep hoping Eurocode will come out with some suspension bolts-ons, like a sway bar & Alu Kruez for our cars. May have to go with Stasis for their sway bar.

Also, I plan to have the K40 RL360i installed by GMP Performance in Charlotte. Very stealthy looking.

Grapeking

Awesome job. Vijay. Looks great. Now, to complete the look, you need to add a subtle tint - maybe 35% or so. MY recollection is that you're not big on tint, but the car is crying out for some.

s5blitzer

Very cool. Love the mods.

Schech13

Sick. Looks fantastic!

S6Express

Cars look great man! I love how the "BMW parking only" arrow is only pointing in one direction.

subterFUSE

Nice one, brotha!!!


Looks awesome. I like the wheels and tire combo. Looks tough as nails and very athletic.

Really cool idea going with alcantara for the ashtray control panel. I'm actually jealous that we didn't think of that when doing mine.